Red alert issued as Shanghai records a temperature of 40 degrees
A woman takes cover under an umbrella as she seeks relief from the scorching heat on Nanjing Road in Shanghai, where the temperature reached a sweltering 39 degrees Celsius.
Thursday was the hottest day in Shanghai this year, with the benchmark downtown Xujiahui weather station recording 40 degrees Celsius at 2pm.
This was the station's 22nd observation of a temperature of 40 degrees or higher in the last 152 years.
The city's meteorological bureau issued this year's first red alert, the highest level of the three-tire system, at 2:08pm, signaling that the temperature in downtown was projected to hit 40 degrees Celsius.
Days with temperatures around 39 degrees will remain until Sunday. Next week, the temperature will decrease slightly to 37 to 38 degrees.
This type of sustained hot weather was only recorded in 1934, 2013, 2017, and 2022 in the city.
The heatwave is likely to last over the next week. High temperatures are also forecast in mid-August, late August, and early September.
The number of hot days this year may rank among the top 10 in local history.
It was 37.7 degrees on Wednesday, the 21st high-temperature day this summer.
